The South End–Groesbeckville Historic District is located in part of the neighborhood of that name in Albany, New York, United States. It is a 26-block, area south of the Mansion and Pastures neighborhoods with a mix of residential and commercial properties. In 1984 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
For several decades after the city's founding in the late 17th century, the South End was undeveloped. In 1761 General Philip Schuyler built his house there. Today it is a National Historic Landmark, the oldest building in the district and the only contributing property in the district individually listed on the National Register.
As the city grew following the opening of the Erie Canal in the early 19th century, development did not reach the South End immediately, save for an early toll road, now South Pearl Street (part of New York State Route 32) built in the first years of the 19th century, which later became the backbone of the South End. Planned streets for the neighborhood were included in Albany's grid pattern as early as 1818. They were built in the middle of the century, and by the 1870s the district had begun growing rapidly, fueled by German immigrants, a group still closely associated with the South End and the first of several waves of immigrants to leave their mark on it. Irish Americans would also consider it theirs even as they dispersed to other parts of the city, and one native of the district, Daniel P. O'Connell, grew up to become boss of the city's Democratic political machine well into the 20th century, using a now-demolished building in the district as his headquarters.
The district is the only large area of Albany predating the 20th century where houses were largely built by the future occupants one at a time, rather than in large sets of speculative houses by developers (as one later historian put it "[it] wasn't planned, it just grew"), resulting in great architectural variety. The hamlet of Groesbeckville in the neighboring Town of Bethlehem, which at the time was just to the south, grew along similar lines and was soon absorbed into the city, the first expansion of Albany's southern boundary. The new neighborhood became the first home for many of the immigrant groups that would populate the city into the 20th century, including African Americans dislocated by urban renewal elsewhere in the city. Today the district remains largely intact (only 13 of the district's 520 buildings, or 2.5 percent, were, at the time of listing, non-contributing) but struggles with the effects of urban decay. A neighborhood association has worked with the city to develop a revitalization plan.
Geography
While the South End is generally taken to refer to a large area of Albany, including almost everything south of downtown and Lincoln Park to the city's southern limit, the district covers a smaller area that mostly resembles a slightly bent rectangle, mirroring a bend that once existed in the Hudson River shoreline and marked the city's original southern boundary. It has protrusions at several points, particularly on the east. Within is all the land between Elizabeth and South Pearl (New York State Route 32) streets going north–south and Morton and Second avenues going east–west. The terrain is generally level, since most of the district is on the flood plain of the Hudson River to the east. There are some gentle rises on the west, remnants of the many ravines through which small creeks once flowed to the river.
To the north, separated by a block, are the Mansion and Pastures historic districts, also considered part of the South End in the broader sense, on the west and east respectively of South Pearl. East, Interstate 787 a block east of South Pearl and some modern housing projects divide the South End from Albany's old waterfront, among its buildings the A. Mendelson and Son Company Building, also listed, and the newer facilities of the Port of Albany–Rensselaer to the southeast. Directly south and west of the district are similar blocks of residential buildings, albeit with less historical integrity. North of Morton are some other institutional buildings, including a church and Albany's Criminal Court building.
The district boundary follows a combination of lot lines and streets. Its most easily described portion begins at 298 South Pearl Street and follows the west side of that street north for approximately a quarter-mile (500 m) to the north end of the parking lot on the east side between Fourth Avenue and Alexander Street. It turns east then south down St. Ann's Place and across Fourth to exclude the parking lot yet include Public Bath No. 2 and St. Ann's/St. John's Church buildings.
It then turns east, following the church's rear lot line and then crossing Franklin Street to Vine Street including the old Fire Engine No. 5 building. Then it turns north along a rear lot line, taking in "Foley's Row" of houses along Franklin and St. Ann's/St. John's Center on the northeast corner of Fourth and Franklin before returning to Franklin. It follows that street north to turn east again along the lot line in the middle of the block between Plum and Bassett streets, then back south along that same lot's line to Plum. After following the street east for another lot, it turns south to include all the lots on the south side of Plum to Green Street, the easternmost reach of the district.
From there, it goes north up Green and then west along Bassett, returning to its northward course at Franklin. It detours onto property lines to exclude the vacant lot at Franklin and Schuyler Street, then returns to the latter, excluding the modern Giffen Memorial Elementary School building. At the next intersection, it follows South Pearl north to the district's northeastern corner, just short of Morton Avenue.
It follows property lines west and south across that block and Broad Street, excluding some modern government buildings such as a new fire station, Albany's Criminal Court and the local Department of Motor Vehicles office. At Clinton Street it turns north again to return to Morton. It follows this approximately west to the district's northwestern corner at 84 Morton, on the street's south side two lots east of the Eagle Street intersection.
After another eastward lurch along the back lines of 84 and 86 Morton, it turns south along a side lot line to cross Catherine Street and the next block. At Osborne Street it turns east, following it to the rear line of the properties on the west side of Elizabeth Street. It continues this way for another two blocks, turning back towards Elizabeth at 59, two lots south of Alexander Street.
At Third Avenue it turns west to take in the properties at 76–82 Third, then goes down their side and rear lines to the rear lines of the lots on Elizabeth. It follows them south to the rear lines of the houses on Second Avenue, whereupon it returns to Elizabeth and follows it across the Second intersection. Briefly following Krank Avenue, it then turns along the rear lines along the south side of Second, past Odell and Benjamin to Broad. It turns south along that street and then east to reach the southern end of the district back at 298 South Pearl.
Within this boundary are 520 buildings, all but 13 of which are contributing properties to the district's historic character. Most are two- or three-story vernacular brick or timber frame houses, in a variety of 19th-century styles, particularly Greek Revival, Italianate and Eastlake. The exception is South Pearl, the district's commercial backbone since development began. There are a few institutional buildings, primarily churches but also some schools as well as the fire station, scattered around the district. Some streets and intersections retain their original brick or cobblestone paving.
All open space is vacant lots. There are no parks in the district although there are several nearby, such as Lincoln Park to the northwest and Krank Park to the southwest. The baseball fields of Bishop Maginn High School also immediately abut the district on its west.
History
For most of Albany's early years, from its colonial beginnings to well past independence, the South End was part of the city only politically, its only development being the rough road to the south that went through it. General Philip Schuyler's mid-18th century decision to build a mansion on his lands there was the first development of any kind. Later, after his death, the Erie Canal and its related industrial development brought so many immigrants to the area that the city had to expand its boundaries, making the South End an end in name only.
1686–1761: Colonial era
When Dutch colonists first established their colonial capital in the mid-17th century, it was clustered around Fort Orange. A stockade enclosed the small village of Beverwijck that grew up around it, delineating the area roughly corresponding to what is today downtown Albany. When the area passed into British control following the Second Anglo-Dutch War, it was renamed Albany. In 1686 the stockaded settlement became a city with the granting of the Dongan Charter, the oldest city charter in continuous use in North America. It fixed Albany's initial municipal boundaries, establishing the southern city limit at the northern tip of what is today Castle Island, corresponding roughly to Gansevoort Street on today's map.
During the first half of the 18th century, the city remained confined to its stockade, on guard against attacks from the French to the north. Just outside the city to the south were common pasturelands owned by the Dutch Reformed Church. Beyond them ran only a road to the south, a route now followed by South Pearl Street.
By the middle of the 18th century, tensions between the British and the French in North America, mirroring those between their parent countries, twice exploded into war. In 1760, during the second of these—the French and Indian War, corresponding to the Seven Years' War in Europe—General Philip Schuyler began accumulating property to the south of the Pastures. The following year he began construction of a house on his land.
1762–1825: Schuyler years
Schuyler oversaw the construction from England, where he was tending to military affairs with his mentor, John Bradstreet, and choosing much of the house's interior finishings there. It was a brick Georgian structure, the first full-size structure in that style built in Albany, with many of the latest amenities and designs.Greiff, Constance M.; , National Park Service; July 26, 1985; p. 6, retrieved September 10, 2012. Situated on a bluff overlooking the river, city and Schuyler's , the house he called "The Pasture" was the most elaborate built in Albany at the time, and remained so for many years afterwards.
During the ensuing years of the Revolution Schuyler's mansion was host to some of its notable personalities. After being taken prisoner following the Continental Army's victory at the Battle of Saratoga, British General John Burgoyne and his staff were Schuyler's houseguests. George Washington visited, leading the city to rename the road down to the mansion Washington Street. In 1780, Washington's aide Alexander Hamilton married Schuyler's daughter Elizabeth on the grounds. The following year, even as the Patriot victory loomed, Loyalist forces raided the house in an attempt to kidnap Burgoyne.